Exam Topper

Almost more than 60% of India’s population is directly or indirectly dependent upon agriculture and allied activities, but contributes only about 17% to the GDP. For a country like India which has a vast population to feed and maximum workforce is dependent on agriculture, it becomes imperative to increase productivity in this sector. Food processing sector is one of the sectors which can increase the quality of the produce as well as its value. For it, Government of India has launched numerous initiatives.  Initiatives taken by government to develop food processing sector in India  • Mega Food Parks: Under this scheme, government provides capital grants of 50% for all states and 75% to special status states. Since its inception, 42 mega food parks were given in-principle approval. However, only five projects have started operations, including the North East Mega Food Park in Assam. Hence, it can’t be called a proper success. Whereas, its predecess or Food park scheme was qui...

India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) is the largest distribution network of its kind in the world. PDS was introduced around World War II as a war-time rationing measure. The Public Distribution System (PDS), till 1992, was a general entitlement scheme for all consumers without any specific target. The Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) was launched in June 1992. Subsequently, in 1997, the government launched the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), with a focus on the poor. TPDS aims to provide subsidized food and fuel to the poor through a network of ration shops. Food grains, such as rice and wheat that are provided under TPDS are procured from farmers, allocated to states and delivered to the ration shop, where the beneficiary buys his entitlement.  • In September 2013, Parliament enacted the National Food Security Act, 2013. The Act relies largely on the existing TPDS to deliver food grains as legal entitlements to poor households. This marks a shift by mak...

Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was a civil engineer and statesman. He made contributions to several technical projects in his career in Hyderabad, Mysore, Maharashtra and Orissa. The Great KRS Dam was his excellent work instrumental in converting the barren lands into fertile grounds for farming. M.S. Swaminathan in the other hand is an advocate of moving India to sustainable development, especially using environmentally sustainable agriculture, sustainable food security and the preservation of biodiversity, which he calls as “evergreen revolution.”  Following are the contributions of Sir M. Visvesvaraya in the fields of water engineering:  • He is best remembered for the instrumental role he played in the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and dam in 1924. This dam not only became the main source of water for irrigation for the nearby areas, but was also the main source of drinking water for several cities. • He had designed and patented a system of automatic weir wa...

The project aims to fulfil the watershed component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMSKY) to reduce surface runoff of rainwater, increase groundwater levels and ensure better water availability in rain fed areas. This will contribute to higher agricultural production even in water-stressed areas.  Impact of National Watershed Project in increasing agricultural production in water-stressed areas.  •It was launched for achieving the major objectives of the watershed component of the PMKSY and for ensuring access to irrigation to every farm (Har Khet Ko Pani) and efficient use of water (Per Drop More Crop)  •It will bring about institutional changes in watershed and rain-fed agricultural management practices in India.  •It will help to build systems that ensure watershed programmes and rain-fed irrigation management practices are better focused, and more coordinated, and have quantifiable results.  •It will devise strategies for the sustainability of i...

IFS is a farming practice meant for all-round development of agriculture with animal husbandry and other occupations related to core agricultural practices. Integrated Farming System (IFS) is an interdependent, interrelated often interlocking production systems based on few crops, animals and related subsidiary enterprises in such a way that maximizes the utilization of nutrients of each system.  • The IFS approach has multiple objectives of sustainability, food security, farmer security and poverty reduction. It involves use of outputs of one enterprise component as inputs for other related enterprises wherever feasible, for example, cattle dung mixed with crop residues and farm waste can be converted into nutrient-rich vermi-compost.  • use of local resources, effective recycling of farm waste for productive purposes, community-led local systems for water conservation, organic farming, and developing a judicious mix of income-generating activities, such as dairy, poultry, fi...